Allison
by StillNotGinger17
Summary: Allison works as a tech-girl for the Enclave. Her twin sister, Kai, works on the other end of the war, causing some turmoil between the two. But Allison remains proud of her position. Until one day she gets a rather strange demand from her commanding officer. A demand that will change her life forever.
1. Prologue

**Surprise, bitch! Bet you weren't expecting me, again.**

**Here's a little extra bit of my story 'Radioactive Crystal'. I was just resurrected this idea a few days ago, so here you are! Just the prologue so far. Next chapter will be coming up soon.**

**Enjoy! **

The Wastelands are a merciless, hostile, inhospitable place. People strive in anyway they can to survive in the radioactive world. But as mankind branches off in our own stations of life, one thing becomes clouded for us. As we kill to survive, we begin to loose what it means to be human. We stoop down to whole new lows, and all for what? So we can live another day. But some want more then that. As history has shown, some humans need a little more. Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, people who wanted to change the world drastically. They wanted to control it. The command centre in the Enclave are buzzing with excitement and anticipation. Everyone became busy with reaching President Eden's wishes to control the wastes the way he sees fit, and will destroy whatever stands in his way.

Our story begins in the tech room of the underground facility, where a worker for the Enclave is faced with decisions. As she moves forward, following commands, things begin to look grim. She must decide to follow the orders she was given, or keep in touch with her own humanity.

**(More Soon) **


	2. Chapter 1: Lieutenant Doorknob

**Here we go! Officially the first Chapter! Ooooh, I'm getting chills. **

**Enjoy, sweeties! **

"Ally! You'd better be getting ready!" Charles' booming voice pierced through the thick steal door to my room.

"Be right there!" I shouted back, hopping on one foot to get my boot on properly.

Today was a busy day. I was to research this project called 'Project Purity', created by some random people in the wastelands. I thought it was a bunch of bogus, but for some odd reason the Boss was all head over heals about it.

"Ally, get your butt out here!" Charles' boomed again.

"I said I'm coming!" I yelled. Pulling a lab coat loosely over my shoulders, I pressed the button to access the door. The two large slabs of metal slid from the middle into the wall, revealing a very razzled Charles. His damp brown hair stuck to the sides of his face in the most hideous way. I rolled my eyes heavily, stepping into the otherwise empty hallway.

"How many times have I told you that looks disgusting on you?" I grumbled, turning to the direction of our office.

"I have no choice. It's standard procedure for the Enclave Soldiers to look like a welcoming mixture of pre-war and the future that awaits us. It is to welcome the new and old…" He began to ramble as we began walking down the hallway.

I lifted my hand in protest of his explanation, almost gagging at the way he was talking.

"Ew, gag. Nevermind, I don't want to know." I muttered.

"Well, you asked. And I advise you start dressing the way Colonel Autumn suggests if you don't want to keep the same boring job the rest of your life." He explained.

"Colonel Autumn can take his commands and shove where the sun don't shine. I couldn't give to shits what he thinks of me." I said boldly.

"Sure you do." There was a pause before he spoke again. "Do you know anything about this Project Purity?" He asked.

"Absolutely no idea whatsoever. Do you have any idea why the big Boss is going crazy over it?" I asked back.

"It could literally mean anything. Things aren't exactly the best they've ever been since the bombs dropped."

"Ugh, stop acting like you're from pre-war times. You were born a week after me." I grumbled.

We turned into our office, and we both made our way to our own desks. It always shocked me just how opposite we really were. Mine had stacks papers covering almost every inch of my metal desk, emptied out mugs pilled on each other, and opened books scattered everywhere. Where as Charles' desk had literally nothing out of place, everything laid out perfectly symmetrical. The desk was so damn clean one could even eat off of it.

"Where do we start?" I asked, booting up my computer.

"We start with our first orders." He explained.

I opened up the document sent to us by Colonel Autumn.

Charles and Allison

As you may have heard before, you are to research everything possible about something named 'Project Purity'. You will find the location where this project is taken place, and once you do you will report to us immediately.

I will expect this done by the end of the week.

"Is he fucking insane?" I snapped after reading the e-mail.

"Well, let's get to it." Charles sighed.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It was midnight exactly a week later once Charles and I had all the information that we needed. I sprawled on my desk, lazily reading a document written by a 'Madison Li.' Madison Li was a Doctor who worked with a young couple named James and Catherine. Them and a few other Doctors teamed up twenty years ago to build some giant thing, that took a lot of work, a lot of space, and a lot of time. They called it a 'purifier', but I still didn't really know what it purified. It was located in the Jefferson Memorial near Rivet City. The project became abandoned soon after it was started, and hasn't been touched until about two weeks ago. There were no records as to why there was activity in the machines again, since it was so recent.

"Find anything?" I mumbled, my head perched in the crook of my arm. When there was no response, I turned my head to the side to see Charles. His eyes were wide as he started at his screen, completely un moving, his face completely pale.

"Charles?" I asked, lifting my head slightly. "Charles, what did you find?"

"It purifies water…" His voice was so faint I almost asked him to repeat himself.

"It what?" I asked.

"It's a giant purifier for water… They want to cleanse the wastes water." He explained.

"And that's amazing how?" I asked.

Charles looked at me, suddenly looking like he was about to cry.

"Don't you understand? This could save the world."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

We debated for about another hour on actually writing a report for Colonel Autumn. Would he know that we would have figured out what exactly the Purifier was capable of? If they even got it working, that is. And why exactly did the Boss want it? Finally, we sent it off. While I laid my head on the pillow that night, all the facts kept running through my mind, as well as budding questions. Why was the project abandoned twenty years ago? What was the cause? Why is it just picking up steam now? What happened to James, Catherine, Madison, all of those people? Are they back at it again?

After what seemed hours of being haunted by these questions, I finally decided to take some sleeping chems to shut my brain down in order to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be an interesting day… to say the least.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

That morning I didn't wake up to the usual sound of Charles pounding at my door. Instead, I was awoken by the dead silence around me. My eyes flittered open, and I lazily rolled to my side to check the time. Eleven o-clock. Damn! Where the hell was Charles? I cursed out loud, and hurried to get changed. I was struggling to get a pair of pants on when the doors of my room opened abruptly. The sudden noise made me jump, and sent me flying to the ground, one leg in a pant leg, and the other only half way through. I looked up to see a very confused Enclave Soldier. He looked just as startled as me, maybe even more. After a few awkward seconds of us staring at each other, he coughed nervously.

"Should I give you some privacy, ma'm?" He asked.

I blinked a few times before answering.

"Uh… no no, not at all. I was just… just getting up." I grumbled, getting to my feet quickly. The man averted his eyes quickly, looking at the wall rather than me.

"Um…" The man cleared his throat. "Colonel Autumn requires your attendance." He said flatly.

I quickly pulling my pants on completely, when I finally thought of asking about Charles.

"Where's Charles?" I asked, reaching for my regular boots, and pulling them on.

"Charles has been promoted. He will join us soldiers for the continuation of his Enclave career." The man explained.

My mouth hung open in shock for a minute or two, making the man glance back at me cautiously. Once he saw I had pants on, he locked eyes with me.

"So… Charles was promoted… and he didn't tell me?" I asked, chocking back anger.

"He received the news early this morning." The man explained.

"Right…" I looked to the ground in thought, one hand on my hip.

"No offence to Autumn or anything, but I know where his office is. Why did he send you?" I asked.

"I do not question the orders I am given. I only obey them." The man explained. He almost sounded hypnotized. As almost everyone in the Enclave are.

"Right, of course you don't. Well, Allonsy." I said, moving towards him. The man only blinked at me a few times, a blank expression coming across his face.

"It French for 'lets go', genius." I sighed, moving past him.

He waited a few seconds before following me. He seemed to try and persist to be ahead of me, but I didn't let him have the satisfaction.

"So… what do you do up there? You know, in the soldier barracks?" I asked.

"We do what we are told." The man said flatly, again.

"Yeah, I get that. I mean, what sort of things are you in charge of? Other than waking up girls in the afternoon."

It took a few seconds for the man to respond.

"Weapon control." His answer was more than underwhelming. It was as if he hadn't really thought about it until now.

"Ah, so you make sure all those Laser and Plasma guns don't fall into the wrong hands?" I asked.

"I make sure the squads of our nation are well equipped in the war at hand."

"God, you don't have a sense of humour, do you?"

That took him off guard. It seemed like he was trying to say something, but stopped himself at the last second.

I hated talking to soldiers. And the fact that Charles will be one of them didn't make matters any better.

It was silent until we reached the large Office, with Colonel Autumn sitting in his giant desk.

"Ah, there you are Allison. Thank you Lieutenant Martin. You may return to your post." Autumn said smoothly, his accent showing ever so slightly. Lieutenant Martin left the room was almost a bow, leaving on me and the big boss alone.

"Have a seat, Allison." Autumn said cooly. I waddled towards the desk, and slumped myself on the chair. He was going to have to say something first.

"As you may know already, your partner, Charles King is no longer with you." Colonel Autumn said finally.

"Thanks, Captain obvious. What other riveting news do you have for me on this fine afternoon?" I asked in frustration.

"You're upset." He said, still pointing out the obvious.

"You're _damn _right I'm upset!" I shouted, slamming my fist on his desk. "My business partner, _my best friend _is promoted and I have to be told by Lieutenant doorknob over there?!"

Autumn was used to this coming from me. I did shit tones of work for this company, and I've never gotten one single bit of gratitude. But today he didn't seem to want to have this dance with me.

"Professor Jordan, I expect you to treat your Governing Colonel with more respect." He said through is teeth.

"Respect? Oh, I didn't know you knew the meaning of the word. Since you know, I haven't gotten a speck of since I began working for you."

"Ms. Jordan!" He yelled, slamming his hand down on the desk, hard.

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms tightly over my chest.

"I would have liked to converse business matters with you, but since you are not in the mood…" He began.

"Just spit it out Colonel." I sighed.

"Very well." Autumn removed his hand from his desk. "Your new business Associate is Margret Jones. She will be moving into Private Charles' quarter immediately. And unless you have some immediate important matters to discuss, our meeting here is quiet adjourned."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It didn't bother me Colonel Autumn and I had another fight as much as Charles being promoted did. Him and I had been working for five years together, and we've really started to bond. I consider him my only real friend in this fucked up environment. The only other friend I ever had was my twin sister, and we don't talk anymore. I met Charles at his room, and watched while he packed his stuff silently. He looked so excited… like this was something he'd been waiting for his whole life. After a few seconds, I finally decided to say something.

"So, Private King. When do you start?" I asked. Instead of jumping, Charles only smiled hugely, and approached me warmly. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly to him. Even if he was my best friend, I never thought of him romantically. And neither did he, which made things a lot easier.

"I heard the news before I hit the hay last night. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to wake you." He explained, pulling away, and turning to his opened suitcase.

"Yeah, thanks for that…" I muttered.

"I can't believe it, you know?" He said, throwing a few more things into his suit case.

"Neither can I." I responded, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed loosely. But he didn't seem hear me.

"This is what I've been waiting for, Ally. This is my big break. I can finally go and do something for once."

"So we don't do anything, then?"

"Yeah, I mean, sitting at a desk for hours a day doesn't get us anywhere. What gets us somewhere is actually being on the field with our brothers and sisters in arms, protecting this country from the mutants of the new world." He droned on.

"Well, good for you. I hope you remember me when you get your head blown off." I spat, and turned to leave. But Charles caught my arm before I could. I turned and saw his face caked with sympathy.

"Look, I'm sorry, Ally. I really am. I wish I could've told you myself." He explained.

If there was one thing I admired about Charles, it was his loyalty. Even on the first day of working together, I knew he wasn't to happy about working with the crazy tech-girl. But even though I wasn't the greatest to work with, he would never cease to treat me like a human being. Maybe that's why him and I became such good friends. I'll never forget the day he walked out of the office randomly, only to come back with a cup of coffee for me. It was an early morning, and I spent the night reading about pre-war vegetation. Not the most affective use of time, but it came in handy on a rare occasion…

"I know… it just fucking sucks." I mumbled.

"It kinda does… oh, and I don't think what you do is useless." He explained, pulling me into his room again. He shut his suit case softly and buckled it down.

"So when do you start?" I asked.

"I dunno. My orders will be given to me when I arrive at the militarily barracks. Fingers crossed I get a good Lieutenant." He explained.

"Pretty sure you go King."

"How do you know?"

"He's the one who told me you were promoted. By the way, the man has like not a single funny bone in his whole body."

Charles chuckled, then placed a both hands on his suit case. It still amazed me all he ever owned was in that thing. He didn't talk about his life prior to the Enclave very often, and when he did he almost became a whole different person. It's like his life didn't matter until he joined up. At that moment I knew we were both thinking the same thing.

"Charlie, you know I've never been one for begging. But… please." I swallowed deeply. "Don't go."

Charles looked up from his suit case, and for a second I thought he was going to cry.

"I have to, Ally. It's not my choice anymore." He replied.

Then, without saying anything, we both hugged each other tightly. I held on tightly to the last friend I had, barely being able to choke back tears.

"Promise you'll visit?" I asked, my voice quiet and weak.

"I promise, Ally."

**Boom! I'm back, bitches! Bringing you all-da-feels since 2011. **

**New chapter coming out soon. ^_^ **


	3. Chapter 2: Margret Did What?

**Here we are with chapter two!**

**This story is wrapping up so quickly... I'm gonna miss writing from Allison's POV. I'm just getting to know her. :( **

Things became quiet after Charles left. It was clear to me that Margret did not intend on making our business interactions a friendship. It was strictly business. For the first time in a long time, I actually began to feel lonely. I began to think a lot about my sister, wondering where she was, if she was still alive… I still remembered the last conversation we had together. We swore we'd never see each other again. And, due to both of our pride, and stubbornness, seven years has passed. I wondered why we didn't share dreams, or know when each other was scared or sad. I guess a part of me just hoped I could have held onto any thing of her at all. When I looked in the mirror, all I saw was Allison. Not Kai.

The days after Charles left were mainly filled with thoughts of Kai, thoughts of Charles, thoughts of Project Purity… just thoughts.

"Allison." Margret's soft, yet demanding voice broke me out of my spell, and I shook my head as I looked up at her.

"Sup?" I asked. I didn't mean for such a slang to escape my lips. It was normally something I would say to Charles.

"Are…. are you doing alright?" She asked.

This was step for Margret. I didn't know if it was in the right direction, but it was a step, non the less. When we had first started working together she would never ask how I was. Sighing, I leaned back on my chair, bringing my luke-warm coffee to my mouth. It wasn't the same as when Charles made it. He knew the cream to sugar ratio perfectly, in a way I could never mimic.

"Fine. Why?" I asked.

"Well… you seem to be lost."

"Oh?" I asked, swallowing the bitter-sweet liquid.

"You've been staring at your screen for eleven minutes straight. I don't even think you were blinking."

"I was reading something." I lied.

Margret's eyes narrowed, but she seemed to have bought the story anyway.

"Alright. Listen, I think… hell, I'll just get right to it." She stuttered.

I get the coffee mug to my mouth, keeping it there as almost shelter from what she was about to say.

"I know you miss Charles, and well… you have every right. And I'm sorry I'm not him. But… well… I just hope we can learn to understand each other." She began.

Understand each other? Like… as in…

"From a business prospective." She said, answering my silent question.

My shoulders slumped, and I set my mug on the desk. She didn't want to really get to know me. She just wanted me out of my mental state to get some work done.

"I hope so, too, Margret." I said as officially as I could. I couldn't stand being in this room anymore. I needed to get out. Standing to my feet, I immediately turned to the door.

"Where are you going?" Margret asked suddenly.

"I need to walk around." I said simply.

My skin itched for the heat of the sun. I wasn't allowed to exit the head quarters, since we'd most likely blow our cover if I did, so I went to the end of the hall instead. Charles and I had once decided to build a little tunnel from the hall to the outside. It worked pretty well, considering we were both on the scrawny side. If you try to get somebody who was just a tad bigger through, they'd probably get stuck. Plus, it was good motivation to not gain weight. I moved some buckets and signs we used to hide the hole with, and squeezed my way through the small tunnel, and eventually outside. Initially the light shocked my eyes, but I soon recovered, and had my whole body out of the hole. The sun felt amazing on my cold skin, and for a few seconds I just sat there, back up against the rocks, taking in the sun. Then before I knew it, tears came streaming down my cheeks. I hugged my legs to my chest, digging my head in between my knees as the tears continued to fall. I didn't know what had caused them, or even why they were here. But the unwelcoming stinging intruded my eyes without explanation. When was the last time I cried? Maybe when I had finally realized I had lose all contact with Kai. In a way this was the same… I had lost contact with Charles. Although he promised he'd visit… he never did. It may not have been his choice, but still. Why would he make an empty promise like that? I looked out unto the distance, seeing the desolated wasteland before me. In the distance I could se Enclave fer-da-birds flying into the distance. They won't be back for a few days. Probably just going to get more supplies. I could run. I could leave right now. But where would I run to? I don't have a weapon with me, nor did I have water or food. But I wanted nothing more than to leave the mountains of the Enclave behind, and go searching for Kai. And take Charles with me.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

When I got back to my office, Margret was gone. I couldn't care less where the hell she had left to. I plopped on my desk, opening my e-mail, half expecting something from Charles. Instead, I laid my tired eyes on an e-mail from Colonel Autumn, sent to everyone in the work force. My eyebrows forwarded as I clicked open the e-mail with suspense. Why would he send _me_ something like this? Then I realized it. Charles and I still had an attached e-mail. Whatever he got, I got, and whatever I got, he got. It was obvious this was sent for him. I shouldn't be reading this. The right thing to do would be to close the document right away, and get back to work. But when did I ever do the right thing? With a mischievous smirk, I concentrated on the words that Colonel Autumn had written.

_Attention Soldiers! _

_ We are to depart to the Jefferson Memorial mid-day of Wednesday. Our mission is to take control of the purifier by all means possible. _

_ You are all to listen to my orders as we proceed into the laboratory. Kill whom you must. _

_ Colonel Autumn. _

Holy shit… That was why he wanted us to do all of that research! So he can take over the damn place! I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking of the people in control of the project. Would they really give up to the Enclave after twenty years? How many would die by the Enclaves hand? Well, that means I won't be going outside anytime soon.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

That morning I woke up to an aggravating beeping noise. Since Margret didn't want to wake me up, I had to pull this old alarm clock out of the storage. It was clunky, old, and rusty, but after some tinkering I finally got it working. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button, immediately regretting the decision as I heard the clang of a small gear shifting. Sighing, I turned to my side to check the time. Sure enough, it was right on. Seven o-clock. Exactly when Charles would wake me up. It was then that I noticed the dark atmosphere around me. And try as I may, I couldn't shake it off. After getting dressed, scarfing down some toast, I sat down on my desk with a cup of coffee in hand. I was suspecting somebody to shoot an e-mail asking for help in the Science Laboratories, or maybe I was to mimic the Enigma machine and crack some BrotherHood of Steel codes. But instead I was faced with yet another e-mail from Colonel Autumn. I was really getting sick of this asshole. I clicked open the e-mail almost angrily. But soon my anger diminished as I began reading the actual thing.

_It is a dark time indeed for the Enclave soldiers that fought bravely yesterday. Our condolence and gratitude will live forever in the names of our fallen brothers and sisters in arms. _

A list of the dead followed closely underneath the short message, followed by pictures of the soldiers. My heart stopped in mid beat, and I felt acid rise to my throat as I scrolled down the list. Name after name showed up. Most of them were completely new to me, since I hated soldiers, anyway. An evil smirk came across my lips as I saw Lieutenant Martin show up on the list. With another scroll down I saw the most beautiful name in the world to be seen on a list of the dead. Colonel Autumn, followed by a picture of his stupid smug face.

"Ha!" I cried out loud happily.

I was about to celebrate when my eyes adjusted on yet another familiar name. Charles King. The world stopped around me, the happiness I felt stopped dead in it's tracks. I had to read the name over and over again, blinking hard as if to wake from a nightmare. There wasn't even a picture of him yet…

"No, no, no, no, no…" I mumbled, shaking my head, scrolling through the list again and again. But it always landed on his name. His empty name.

"Allison?" Came a voice. I looked up to see Margret staring down at me, a cup of hot coffee in her hands. My head felt like it was filled with sand, and I only blinked a few times at her. Tears streamed in my eyes, stinging them once again.

"Allison, what's wrong?" She asked, a little calmer now.

Then, all of a sudden, the room span around me, and darkness took hold of me.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

I woke up to a cold cloth being placed on my forehead. I looked to see the face of the regular doctor of the Enclave.

"Hey, John." I muttered.

"Hey, Allison." He replied. He turned around to tend to something.

"What happened?" I asked, placing a hand on the cool cloth on my head.

"You fainted."

"Did Margret send me?"

"As a matter of fact, she carried you over."

I blinked a few times.

"I must've hit my head or something, cause I thought you just said Margret carried me." I said cheekily. John chuckled.

"She did. She seemed really worried about you. Mind telling me what happened?"

John and I had a kind of minor bond. We were both sort of immigrants to the Enclave. I was Asian, and he was black. Even though the Enclave said they accepted everyone, it wasn't true. We were still treated like shit, and our skills weren't properly used. And don't even get me started on the pay. But even though we had that kind of bond, I wasn't ready to talk about this with him.

"I didn't sleep well." I said simply.

"Oh really? Margret said you started crying before you passed out. Is that due to a lack of sleep, also?" He asked, turning to me now. I shut my eyes, welcoming air into my lungs gratefully.

"John, I don't really want to talk about it. No offence." I said simply.

"Look, I know it's about Charles. I wanted to say I'm sorry about him. I know you two were close." He explained.

Closer than he had ever imagined.

"Did you also know that Colonel Autumn got ganked, too?" I asked.

There was a tense silence, and I glanced over to see if John was still there.

"Some other asshole's gonna replace him. And he'll be just as big as a dick, too." John said simply.

"True… Still, it's good to have him gone."

"Damn right."

**Everyone saw it coming, don't even. ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed! Constructive Criticism is appreciated, as always.**

**New chapter should be up very soon. **


	4. Chapter 3: Get To Da Fer-Da-Bird!

**Bit of a short chapter today. But it's an important one. **

**Enjoy!**

Everything became a blur after that. It was as if I didn't have anything to live for anymore. It was clear to me that Margret wanted more than what she was getting from me, but I was more then willing to let her down. Work soon became unbearable, and for the first time since I joined the Enclave I seriously thought of quitting. But with the attack on the Jefferson Memorial, we were unable to leave for fear of leaking information. Even if I promised with my whole heart I would never (which was a lie) they wouldn't let me leave.

The idea of running away became very attractive to me. I could arrange some sort of weapon, and as for the chip attached in my molar I could just rip it out and destroy it. Maybe I could even sneak into the armoury and 'borrow' a few things. Hell, it sounded like a kick-ass idea to me. I even began to search for maps of the Wastelands to set a course for where I should go. So far I haven't found anything. Day after day I kept adding more things to this plot, but I never seemed to gather the guts to actually put it into action. One day I got so sick of hitting dead ends on finding a map to the Wastes, I found I couldn't sit in my desk any longer, and I forced myself to take a walk. Margret was ignoring me, as she always did, so there was that. As I walked down the hallway, I tried to push away the thoughts of Charles, Lieutenant Martin, Colonel Autumn… I had walked down these halls with all of them at one point. Now they're all dead. Squeezing my eyes shut, I decided my walk was going to be longer than anticipated. Since the attack, Colonel Autumn's office has been completely empty. I decided I wanted to go and visit it, for old times sake. Hell, maybe I could find something to help me with my escape plan. I swung open the door, and was surprised that the lights were still on. Then my eyes settled on the person sitting at the main desk.

"Hello, Ms. Jordan." Colonel Autumn chimed, looking up at me, pleasantly surprised.

My eyes widened, and I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Autumn chuckled, looking amused at my utter shock.

"What's wrong? Did I scare you?" He asked.

"But… you…" I swallowed deeply. "You were dead."

Autumns eyebrows forwarded, and pain flickered in his eyes ever so slightly.

"No, not yet. I was just about to announce that very thing, until you so rudely interrupted. Have you not heard of knocking?" He asked cheekily.

I was _not _in the mood to fight with him. But I knew he was the only one who truly knew what happened to Charles… and I just needed to know.

"Did…" I started.

"Before you ask 'did Charles live, too', the answer is no. No he did not." He explained, suddenly getting very serious.

I guess it wasn't really much of a disappointment, since I had already thought he _was_ dead. But still, it made me feel even worse that it was now clarified.

"Ms. Jordan, if you would please come and sit with me, I would like to explain a few things to you." He said.

I swallowed hard, preparing myself for whatever news was going to tell me.

Once I sat down, he folded his hands tightly on his desk, and looked me straight in the eye. Kai taught me how to see if somebody was truly healthy or not. And Autumn was not meeting the standards. Further more, whatever news he was about to share with me was serious business.

"The battle at the Jefferson Memorial was not a complete failure. We lost a lot of men, but, we go in control of the Purifier." He explained.

My eyes enlarged, and I could feel my hands shaking ever so slightly.

"The people in charge of the Purifier fled to the under ground tunnels. The squads followed them. Including Charles. There were mostly only Doctors, some old, and some young. But there was one other…. thing with them." He took a deep breath before continuing. "A Cyborg was with them. It went rogue after we took over, and it rampaged. It killed most of our men. Including Charles King."

A Cyborg? That was obviously something that wasn't in the research we had done. We heard no mention of one… Maybe if we had, Charles would still be alive.

"I am telling you this because…Ms. Jordan, I am sending you and your business partner over to the purifier. You two and some other workers will be in charge of getting it started."

I blinked a few times, trying to process what he had just told me.

"What about the Cyborg?" The question just kind of came out naturally, before I even had time to think. Autumns forehead wrinkled in a way I had never seen before. He was genuinely nervous about it.

"I'll be honest with you, Ms. Jordan. It got away. We will have soldiers defending your post. You will be able to work to the best of your ability with no worries of this Cyborg." He explained. For the first time ever, I was able to see right through Autumns shield. Whoever… whatever this Cyborg was, it scared the living shit out of him. I took that as a silent victory as I nodded my head in agreement. There was a form of accomplishment with seeing Autumn like that. One that I knew would stay with me for the rest of my life.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The next morning I was awoken yet again by that horrible beeping from the 'pre-war' alarm clock. Anger flared in me, and I slammed my fist down on it, hard. Little metal parts flew everywhere, scattering across the floor, echoing in the silence of the morning. I sighed deeply. Today we were to travel to the Jefferson Memorial. Today I was to leave the place I've stayed in for five years. Not to mention that they didn't even know how long we were supposed to stay there…. in fact, they were rather vague on most of the details. Honestly it was nothing new for the Enclave. They always kept secrets from their workers. It was one of the downfalls of the Enclave. But in the old days I had learned to see past the downfalls. Now I see nothing but problems.

Travelling to the Jefferson Memorial was easier than I had anticipated. After packing everything I thought I would need into one huge suit case, which wasn't even half of my stuff, we were flied to the project by a fer-da-bird. I thought we would be in the air for much longer than we actually were. It must have been about five minutes tops by the time that we arrived. As I climbed out of the fer-da-bird, I became aware of how depressing it felt. I shook off the feeling physically, and followed my commanders inside the building. From there we were guided to the project itself. I was immediately taken by the sheer size of the purifier. It must have been the size of the fer-da-bird… maybe even two of them in one. Margret was equally as stunned as I was when we finally set our eyes on the thing. Around the purifier was a chamber with hundreds of machines, all in a circle around the giant purifier. As we walked in I noticed the chamber could be locked air tight. It was absolutely amazing how they had gotten this things working, from practically nothing at all. Which begged the question further… why was it abandoned twenty years ago? And why did they pick it up now? As time went on, I found out.

**Hope you liked it! More to come.**


	5. Chapter 4: The Cyborg is a girl?

**Alright, here we are, another chapter. **

**I sure hope somebody is reading this shit. I've been busting my ass off to get it done. I hope it pays off...**

**Enjoy!**

I spent a lot of the time exploring around the Jefferson Memorial, trying to find out what exactly went down here. When I asked my commanding officer he only snorted, and mumbled 'get back to work, tech girl', which only made me want to know more. I found an underground area where there was a lot more information to take in. While I was exploring, a plasma pistol in hand, I tripped head first into a Super Mutant carcass. I squealed as I collided with the lifeless monster, and quickly scurried away from it.

"Holy fucking shit…" I cursed, staring at it. The fuckers eyes were still wide, his jaw open, as well. That's when I noticed half of it's skull was blown clean off. Almost instinctively, I covered my nose with my hand, not wanting to smell another dead thing. I looked up to see an intercom, making me sigh with relief.

"Hello? This is Ally, somebody please answer." I almost whined.

"What is it, Allison?" Margret's bored tone came through the intercom.

"There is a dead super mutant down here. Could you please send down a soldier or something? It's fucking disgusting." I explained.

"Sure. Why the fuck is it down there?" She asked. I was still getting used to hearing her swear. I guess she's gotten so used to working with me, that it just slips out sometimes. Or maybe she was actually feeling comfortable around me.

"I have no idea."

"Well, how did it die?"

"It was shot in the head."

"By what?"

"Fuck, how should I know?"

"Just how big is the wound." She started to sound aggravated.

I turned to look again. Dried up blood pooled around the remains of the super mutants blood. It must have been there for a while.

"Well, it only has half a face." I explained.

"Shotgun, close range."

"How the hell do you figure that?"

"I know my guns. I'm calling a soldier down there for you now."

Luckily she sent down the more friendly soldier, who just sighed as he stared down at the giant green body.

"Do you know anything about the occupants who worked here?" I asked as he knelt down to grab the body.

"Not much. All I know is that infamous Cyborg everyones talking about." The soldier said.

"Did you see it?" I asked, slightly concerned. The thing sounded terrifying.

"Oh I saw her alright."

"Her?"

"It's a girl. I thought _you_ would know what a Cyborg is."

What?

"I… I thought it was just machine."

"Nope, only part. And that part was fucking terrifying." He explained.

"Wh…what did she look like?" I asked.

The soldier stood up, crossing his arms as he looked in the distance as if to retrieve a faint memory.

"She had pitch black hair… Err, half of her face was metal, and her right arm was completely metal. I saw her briefly… She seemed almost to be in a sort of trance. Like every inch of humanity she had left in her was tucked away." He explained.

There was a soft silence as I let his words sink in, picturing in my head just what this Cyborg…. what this girl had looked like. What was she thinking as she practically butchered the troops?

If she was thinking at all. After a few more hours of work, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. Of course I was to be watched by a soldier, incase something were to happen to me. Sometimes I thought maybe they were onto me about wanting to run away. I sat on the steps, breathing in the fresh air, and admiring the giant, rustic boat that was wedged in the shores next to us. They said it was a town called 'Rivet City'. Margret was the only one that had ever been in there. She explained the market as a perfect place for trading, buying, selling, or just to sit and enjoy some less radiated food. I asked if I could do the trading soon, but I was yet to be allowed. I couldn't wait to get away from Enclave protection. And hey, maybe this was just the thing that would help me clear my head. At that moment something on the top of the giant boat caught my attention, and I strained my eyes to see what it was. It was a figure of a person sitting on the very end of the boat, it's legs dangling over the edge. It seemed to not have noticed me, but yet seemed to stare right at the Jefferson Memorial. Then for a split second the figure turned it's head, revealing a high, dark pony tail. And a metal face.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

From then on I became increasingly curious about this girl. Project Purity was the least of my worries. During my exploration of the building I finally noticed the small security camera's tucked away in very inconspicuous area's. After piling a few chairs on top of each other, I was able to figure out that they were in perfect condition. I guess all of the fight was on the ground, and since they were so hidden nobody even thought of looking up. They, however, didn't seem to be filming at the moment. Curiosity consumed me, and instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing, I ended up hacking into one of the terminals on the lower levels. After what seemed forever, I finally found the option of 'Security camera footage.' I was surprised by how much footage was actually there. And after some digging, I was able to find footage from twenty years ago, before the project was abandoned. Some of it was more difficult to get to than others, but I did find footage of a young couple talking in the halls.

"Sweetheart, how are you doing?" The young man asked, worry thick in his voice. At that moment I noticed the woman was pregnant.

"I'm alright, James, don't worry about me. I just want to get back to the project." The woman explained.

"I know, Catherine, but I really think you should lay down." James said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, James. Everything's alright." Catherine said, smiling lovingly into the mans eyes.

Finally James sighed, and placed his gentle hand on Catherine's protruding belly.

"James, I think it's a girl." Catherine said softly, smiling down at her womb.

"What will we name her?" James asked, continuing the easy, and proud smile towards their child. Catherine placed her hand on James', and smiled into his eyes.

"Crystal."

They kissed softly, and then the footage cut out to static. That was all I wanted to see of twenty years ago. I was more interested in the raid. I wanted to see what had happened to our soldiers… I wanted to see what happened to the people that had picked up the project again. Finally, I was able to find the footage from just before the raid.

"James!" A woman cried to an older looking man, who turned at the sound of her voice. The woman rushed towards James, but she wasn't the same as before. This woman had short, dark hair, sporting a white lab coat and heels.

"Madison, what is it?" James asked with a soft, yet tense voice.

"I'm worried about Tal. Are you sure she'll be alright in the underground tunnels?" She asked.

"From what she's told me, she's gone through worse. I'm sure she can handle it." James explained. Just then the two were alerted by a sound that the camera's didn't pick up, and they both quickly turned to the entrance of the building.

"Who's that?" Madison breathed.

After a few more seconds, I recognized Lieutenant Martin's commanding voice from outside the door.

"Madison, lock the door, we must not let them in!" James yelled, and the two of them ran their two separate ways. I changed camera's to inside the chamber to see James sprinting up the stairs, and towards the purifier. He ran around the area for a few minutes, pressing buttons like a mad man. Then finally the commotion met him. Two Enclave soldiers ran into the chamber, surrounding James on both sides. In that moment I saw a young woman emerge from behind a large machine.

"Stay where you are!" The soldiers yelled. The woman put her arms up, obviously shocked with the situation. Then Colonel Autumn pranced right up the steps, closing the sellable chamber behind him.

"Hello, James." He stated, placing his hands behind his back.

Madison followed behind him, but obviously too late. She only stood, staring in to the chamber hopelessly. Right behind her came yet another soldier. He pointed his plasma rifle right at her, but she made it clear she was not to put up a fight. After Colonel Autumn had bored me to death with his agonizing voice, I heard a screeching, louder voice on top of his.

"Dad!" It was a girls voice. A woman booked it towards the chamber, only to be tackled by the Enclave soldier.

"Shut your mouth, Cyborg." The man growled. Cyborg? The Cyborg is James' kid? But what happened to Catherine?

Then Autumn talked more, then James talked more, then Autumn shot the young lady, then James talked some more…. I was about to dose off when James turned around to press a few buttons. Suddenly there was an explosion inside the chamber, and the two soldiers immediately fell to their deaths. My eyes widened as I watched Autumn fall to his knees. After replaying that one frame a few times, I noticed he was injecting himself with something. That must've been how he survived. The Cyborg lifted her arm quickly, and in a flash the soldier's brains flew everywhere. It was the same kind of wound that the super mutant had… She rushed to the sealed chamber, only to see her father slowly sink to the floor. Then her hair seemed to just…. change. It went from an orange-red to jet black just as James hit the floor, dead. Madison grabbed the girls wrist and yanked her to her feet.

"We've got to get the hell out of here!" She yelled. The Cyborg leaned against the glass of the chamber. She looked like she was in a trance… I paused the footage, and zoomed into her face. Her eyes were flashing constantly from blue to white. When I hit play again she didn't say anything as Madison dragged her desperately away from the scene.

"Where are you going?" I asked out loud, searching for another camera that had picked up movement. Finally I found one that had footage of a hallway, and I quickly spotted Madison and the Cyborg girl running down it. Well, Madison was running, Cyborg girl just stumbled almost blindly next to her. She was the one that killed most of the troops? That must've been a mistake. They did mistake Colonel Autumn to be dead, when he clearly survived.

"Stay with me, Tal!" Madison yelled.

Tal? Was that short for Crystal? So she did get that name…Crystal. There was still no sight of Catherine… But if it weren't for the metal parts of Crystal I would've almost mistaken her for her mother. Her hair was almost the same colour as Catherine's, before it changed, and her eyes had that same striking blue, even with the Cyborg brain. I heard metal being moved, and I saw Madison drag Crystal under some tunnel. All of the remaining scientists and tech-guys followed, and soon nobody was to be found. Then in that moment, all of the footage stopped.

"Damn." I growled. Still, some of my curiosity was filled. I knew who had picked up the project, I knew the Cyborg was a girl, and I have a better understanding of how Colonel Autumn survived. As I was still trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, Margret stuck her head in.

"Find anything?" She asked.

I jumped at least two feet in my chair before placing both of my hands palm down on the desk.

"Fuck…" I breathed.

"Scared you?" She asked again.

"I…"

"Look, I know you haven't been doing your work. And honestly, I don't a give a flying fuck. What I really want to know is what the hell went down in this place. It's giving me bad vibes." Margret explained patiently, walking into the room.

When I looked up at her I didn't see a boring old business partner. I saw a friend. After taking a deep breath, and swallowing down my heart had that leaped into my chest, I gave her the most honest answer I could.

"The Cyborg's name is Crystal."

**Hope you enjoyed. The last few chapters will be up soon. **


	6. Chapter 5: Press Start to Retry

**Yay! People _are_ reading this! **

**Just a heads up, my birthday is on Sunday, and I'm gonna aim to have this story done by then. It'll be my little birthday present to myself, and to the people who read this. ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

Four years passed after that. Four years of nothing but dead ends on Project Purity. I was able to make it to Rivet City a few times, and I looked out for that figure I saw on the top of the ship that one day. But I never found her. As for Madison, I only saw her once. She was talking with a younger looking scientist. He seemed to be almost consoling her. As soon as they saw me staring at them, they shy'd up real quick and went to another part of the ship. I thought I saw that man in the footage, but I couldn't be sure. Of course I became curious about the tunnel that the scientist's escaped through, but when I heard that almost all of the squads were killed down there I decided not to. Getting over Charles' death was hard enough. Walking in the place that he died in would be even worse. So instead I actually began to listen to orders. If I were to run away, this would be the perfect time to do it. Rivet City was a large place, and since we didn't want to draw too much attention, soldiers weren't allowed in. In fact, when I had to go I was sent with an extra pair of clothes, that weren't from the Enclave. They didn't last long, though. They didn't fit right, and the fabric was kind of itchy. I traded in some fresh water for a new pair of more fashionable clothes. Whoever's idea it was to make a giant purifier knew what this area of the waste's needed. Maybe even the whole wastes. As I went on the ship I would constantly hear rumours of people drinking the irradiated water and nearly dying. Some even spoke of Project Purity. Many times I wanted to seek out Madison and ask for help, but I knew better. I could tell that people were getting increasingly frustrated with Project Purity. Even I got pissed a few times. Mostly because I knew what we needed, but nobody would listen to me. I was just the short asian girl not knowing what she was talking about in the corner, when in reality I could everyones job ten times better. I had heard stories of a G.E.C.K, the Garden of Eden Creation Kit. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that we needed it. This thing just wasn't going to work without it. But the question is where could we find one, if one is still out there? The chances of finding one was pretty high due to all of the Vaults that we had in Washington DC, but that didn't make it any easier. We still had no damn clue where the fuck it was.

I was beginning to think this Purifier wasn't actually going to work. That made me feel pretty bad, considering Charles was so excited about it. And I'm sure James was, too. I had brought up the concern a few times, only to be told to hold my tongue and get back to work. It didn't bother me that I was being treated like shit, cause that was nothing new whatsoever. It did bother me that we could be doing better things with out time, rather than sitting in this damn building trying to resurrect a twenty four year old project. One thing did concern me, however. Colonel Autumn was not one to just sit around and wait for us, especially for as long as it has been. It made me wonder if he had any kind of back up plan in store. Or maybe he was executing it already.

And of course, curiosity took hold of me once again, and I found myself recreating the Enigma machine to spy on his plans. It took me a long time, and since everyone was sick and tired of working on Project Purity nobody gave a damn what I was doing, anyway. It took me a while, but finally I got into some of the soldiers e-mails.

_Hello all, _

_ It has come to my attention that Project Purity is not going as well as planned. Because of this set back we are forced to use drastic measures. We have found the location of Tal Almodovar, and Madison Li. Tal is located in a small town called Megaton, and Madison Li is in Rivet City. In a weeks time we will march forward and take what is ours. Violence is the last option we will want to us, but of course it is not unwelcome. _

_Colonel Autumn. _

My mouth hung open for a few seconds after reading this. Were they seriously going to track down these guys and torture them until they gave us the final piece of the puzzle? Anger began to rise in me as I read over the e-mail a few more times. Wherever Crystal was now she wasn't safe. And a strange , unexplainable part of me wanted to make sure that she would be, at all costs.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It didn't take long to find Madison Li. After asking around, being as unsuspicious as I possibly could, I learned she was in the boats Science Lab. It was a little obvious, and I kind of shunned myself for not finding her sooner rather than later. When I finally did make it to the lab I found Madison busy in her work. Her hair was a bit of a mess, and her clothes seemed to be a bit baggy now. I guess these last few years haven't been very kind to her. I walked over to her as calmly as I could, trying to be gentle. It felt like I was approaching a wild animal and trying not to get my head ripped off.

"Madison Li?" I asked. Despite my best efforts, Madison jumped at my voice. Her eyes were wide and beaty when they met mine, and I could tell she was now alarmed.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Okay, that was the lamest thing I have ever fucking said. "My name is Allison Jordan. I mean no harm."

Madison took a few seconds before answering me.

"What do you want?" She asked.

I hadn't noticed until that point that she was also Asian. There's one thing we have in common.

"I have urgent news about Project Purity. Could… could we speak in private?" I asked. It was kind of a stupid question, considering it seemed like nobody else was in the Lab.

"George!" Madison yelled.

"No, it's Allison…" I stumbled. I'm a fucking idiot.

From the corner of the Lab a young scientist emerged, worry plastered in his face.

"What is it Madison?" He asked calmly. He laid his soft gaze on me, and immediately his whole demeanour changed.

"Who are you?" He asked, a little more alert.

"My name is Allison Jordan, I work for the Enclave. I have some bad news about Project Purity that I think you two need to know." I explained, then stopped for a few seconds. "And I need you to tell Crystal."

"What is it?" George asked.

"They're coming."

"Who?"

"The Enclave. They've found your location, and they've found Crystal. Project Purity has not been working under our care, and now their starting to take drastic measures. Their coming in a week to force answers. Crystal's in a place called Megaton, and if you don't get to her soon she'll be in a lot of trouble." I explained as fast as I could.

"And why should we believe you?" Madison asked.

"You don't have to, but I'm telling you right now that you guys are in a butt load of trouble. Colonel Autumn is a total dick when he's mad, and he's furious right now."

"Why do you want to help us so badly?" George asked.

"Because…. because I looked over the tapes at Project Purity. And I cannot… I will not sit here and watch this shit happen to you guys. I know what you're intention is, and I am all for it. But the Enclave will use it for some fucked excuse to take over the world, I can promise you that."

There was a tense silence as the two Scientists digested this information.

"How do we know you're not a spy?" George asked cynically.

"You don't. I suppose that's the meaning of the word 'faith'. So have a little _faith_ in me that I'm at least trying to do the right thing here. And believe me, if my boss knows I told you guys I'll be dead by morning. I'm taking a huge chance here, and the least you could do is just think of believing me." I don't know where the hell that came from, and honestly I didn't want to know. All I knew was that this was something that was important to me, and that's all I needed.

"If we believe, and only _if_ we do… What exactly do you want us to do about it?" George asked.

"You guys were looking for a G.E.C.K, right?" I asked. There was a bit of a silence as the two Scientists let this sink in. Madison nodded this time.

"I'd suggest getting it, and quick. It will only be a matter of time before the Enclave find where it is located."

"But what do we do when we get the G.E.C.K?" George asked.

"Tell me, and I'll install it. You'll need to tell me the code to start the purifier when you get it." I explained, pulling a card from my pocket. "You can contact me through my personal e-mail."

I held out to card to George, who took it passively.

"I need to get back before they start to think something is wrong. Contact me fast, okay?" I asked, backing away.

"We will, Allison." George said.

Just before I had walked through the exit of the lab, Madison's soft voice caught my attention.

"Thank you."

I turned back to her, looking into her defeated gaze. There was no doubt James' death had destroyed her. And with the project in the hands of the Enclave, her life had little to no meaning. But now she looked just a little more hopeful. And even though it wasn't much, it was something.

"You're welcome."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

I was sitting in my small room when the door opened suddenly, and in walked my commanding officer.

"Miss Jordan, it has come to my attention that you have done all you could do in this department. You will be transferred back to base by noon." He explained.

I stared at him for a few seconds after he had said this. He tilted his head sideways as if to hear me better, even though I hadn't said anything.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Did they find out I helped the enemy?

"But, why?" I asked.

"As I said you have preformed all you are able, or willing, to do at this project. You will be of mores us at the base." He was getting impatient now. There was no arguing with him anymore.

"Is Margret coming with?" I asked.

"Margret will stay here. As I said, your dispatch will arrive by noon." And with that, he turned and left me alone in my guilty silence.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It was horrible being back. I stood in the middle of my room, somewhat lost. The broken alarm clock was cleaned and thrown out, my bed didn't even look like it had been slept in since I left. It probably hasn't. Not only did it feel lonely down here, it actually fucking was. Nobody else worked on this floor anymore, all who remained was me. And in the silence of the floor, I finally decided today was the day I would do it. Today was the day I would finally run away from this horrible place, and at least try to find a life outside. So, I grabbed a light-weight bag, and packed everything I thought I would need. Water, food, some medical supplies, a small lap top that I had built, clothes, and a plasma pistol with just a little ammo. It wasn't ideal, but hell, it was better than nothing. Last second I remembered about the chip in my molar, and I threw a pair of pliers in the bag. I didn't want to think about how much it would hurt, and how I had very low medical supplies incase a vein bursted… Shaking my head, I swung the bag over my shoulder, and made my way towards the small hole that Charles and I had created. As I walked down the hall, I began to feel excited… more excited than I had been for a long time. My heard was beating so fast, I could swear it was going to burst at any second. What if they found me right away? What would they do to me? I shuddered, remembering the means of torture that the Enclave has. Once I got to the end of the hall, I almost threw the mops and buckets that hid the hole. Then I saw it. My heart stopped in mid beat, and all excitement was drained from me within seconds. The hole had been plastered over with pure cement.

**...Bummer, huh? I kinda didn't want to do that, but I had no choice. It'd be what Colonel Autumn would do, plus it makes you hate him more. **


	7. Chapter 6: Blow Him The Fuck Up

**Helloooo!**

**So I didn't hit my goal. When do I ever ;). But, good news, next chapter is the last chapter. XD**

**Enjoy! **

I didn't know what else to do. Everything last shred of hope I had in me was completely obliterated. And I didn't even have anyone to talk to. Colonel Autumn was gone on some other important matters. Even if I wanted to talk to him, he wasn't there. Nobody came down at all, actually. All of my orders were sent by e-mail. The Enclave had some pretty good hackers, but nothing compared to what I could do. After hours of securing my computer, I sent Margret an e-mail asking what the hell was going on. No way in hell would the Enclave be able to trace it. I didn't even know if she was going to be able to check it, let alone send back. But it was a risk I was willing to take. I needed to know what as happening up top…. I had to know. Day after day I was given one mind dulling task after another. Nothing made me excited anymore… only when I checked my e-mail, waiting for Margret's response. It wasn't until the the second week that I had realized I was basically imprisoned. I was going crazy. I needed human contact, and I needed it now. I could feel my brain slowing down, feeling as though my blood was replaced with molasses. I didn't even know what the fuck that was. It just sounded right.

Then, finally, the long awaited e-mail. It was short, but it was affective.

_Ally,_

_ I don't have much time. The soldiers are watching our every move now. And I mean EVERY move. It's getting fucking annoying. Ever since you told those Doctors about us, the Enclave has been keeping secrets. That much I know. But I do know this much. Your girl, Crystal? Yeah, she's been taken hostage at the base. If you still feel like being a hero, she's in the hostage chambers. _

_ Go for it._

Crystal was… here? My hands began to shake, the world sharpened, and all at once I was on high alert. Whatever they wanted with her… it wasn't good. And they weren't going to ask nicely. I rushed out of my office as quickly as I could, and straight to my room. I needed supplies, I needed to disguise myself inconspicuously… Finally, I found a tech-guy jumpsuit, and I threw it on as quickly as I could, already getting my fake story straight. I was called up to the higher chambers, because a light was busted out. I was to replace it. Simple, yet I'll be invisible. Looking at myself in the mirror, I tried my hardest to make myself look as unpleasant as I could. Teasing my hair, rubbing some oil on my face, clothes and hands. Roll up my sleeves, showing my blindingly white skin. This was more than enough to keep the attention off of me. One thing that I've noticed while working for the Enclave was that if you weren't important, then you were ignored. And being a tech-girl was 'not important'. Until something goes wrong in those obnoxious power suits of theres. Finally, after I deemed myself worthy, or unworthy, enough to slip past the guards, I picked up a tool box, and quickly made my way to the elevator. Once I the doors opened I was surprised and somewhat startled to see a commanding officer standing patiently, hands behind his back. Okay, breath, act normal. Wait, no don't act normal, being myself is shunned upon. Okay, be rude, in compliant, cheeky and a bit a bitch…. Oh okay, then actually act normal. Without making eye contact, I shuffled into the elevator, and went to press the button to the top floor when I noticed it was already pushed.

"Going to the same destination, aren't we?" The man asked, almost startling me. It was the first time I've seen an actual human being in two weeks. It took almost everything I had to not hug him profusely. But would that be the best thing to do right now? I took a deep breath, crossing my arms, leaned against the wall, and crossing my legs in aggravation. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the guy chimed up again.

"Coffee's getting better down there, isn't it?" He asked.

"Yup." I said, over pronouncing the P at the end, making it echo through the awkward silence.

"How long have you been working here?" He asked, looking over at me happily.

"Nine…. Nine years…." I could tell the guy was shocked. And so was I. I hadn't realized just how long it was until now.

"I've only been here two years." The guy mentioned.

I wanted to say 'Cool, what made you want to join? Do you like it here?' and 'Run away as soon as you can'. But the only thing my facade could hold up was a nod. And so that's what I did. Despite me being a total bitch to him, he seemed quite intent on just chatting anyways.

"I always thought that the country was lost. You know, God Bless America and all that jazz… I used to think that it was all over and done with. I wanted to know more about. I wanted to live in America for what it was before the war. So when I heard about the Enclave and what it stands for, naturally, I got interested. I never thought I would actually join." He began to ramble on and on. The part of me who wanted to hug him grew stronger as he did. I wanted to grab his hand, and lead him out of this hell. Because I saw myself in him, before all of this happened. It took a lot of will power and strength to not do just that. Instead I just nodded my head, with the occasional 'uh huh'.

"Well, enough about me, let's hear about you. How are you doing?" He asked.

It took me a few seconds to actually register that he was talking to me now, and when I did I took even longer to respond. Nobodies asked how I was doing in… four years. Not since Charles… I looked up at him, and for a split second I seriously considered telling him everything. From when Charles woke me up that one normal morning, when things seemed so simple, so easy.

"I'm…" I muttered, and just at the last second the doors opened, turning both of our attention away.

"Well, nice meeting you. I hope to see you around." The guy said with a wink, and walked off the elevator simply. I stared after him as he turned the corner, and out of my vision. The elevator doors began to close, and I lunged forward to catch them. Off to a bad start. Shaking my head, I quickly retrieved my tool box from the ground, and sauntered off the elevator as easily as I could. Okay, hostage chambers. Right. I fast walked towards the area, when I remembered I was playing a facade. Huffing, I calmed my steps, even though nearly ever inch of me urged me to move faster. My little charade seemed to pay off, as a soldier passed right by me without even a glance my way. If I hadn't played up the tech-girl part, I'm sure they would have called Autumn by now. Finally, once I reached the hostage chambers, I heard two soldiers outside of one of the chambers, one holding a bag loosely at his side.

"Tal Almodovar's belongings are to be placed in the equipments locker. Go." The soldier said. The other soldier nodded, and headed into the chamber, bag in hand. I knelt down instinctively as the first soldier turned towards me, and focused on a small light on the ground. Luckily, he didn't even notice me, and passed by me easily. Still I felt like I needed to have a real reason why I was here. Taking a wrench from my toolbox, a smirk twisted at my lips. In one swift movement, I smashed out the light. It sparked for a few seconds, then went dead. Smiling triumphantly, I looked back up at the chamber, to see the door open quickly. I turned back to the light quickly, and waited patiently for the soldier to leave. It felt like forever when he finally did. I looked around, making sure nobody was around the halls. Once the coast was clear, I took my toolbox, and rushed into the chamber. There in front of me, levitating in one of the holding cells, was Crystal. Her hair was pitch black, she wore nothing but her bra and underwear, her skin was scared and bruised, her whole right arm was metal, while the other one carried a pip-boy. I walked towards her slowly, completely taken by her. As I got closer I noticed the metal part of her face, and perfectly linear scars on her left arm. For some reason I had the urge to reach up and touch the metal part of her face, but I had to hold myself back. If anybody new I was in here I would be killed on sight. That was when I had finally realized I rushed all the way over here with no real reason to. What exactly was I going to do? I was shit with a gun, even worse when shit hits the fan, and I've never killed anyone before. How was I going to take Crystal and escape? Shaking my head, I continued to stare at her. The wastes had not be kind to her, in the least. But she had survived. She was still alive. Whatever drive she possessed was definitely something to envy. What in the actual fuck am I supposed to do? What _can_ I do? Obviously if she's gone this far, she wouldn't give up with a little Enclave force. Maybe she just needed a little push. I swung open her locked to find a Lincoln repeater lazily thrown at the bottom. I whistled in astonishment, resisting the urge to touch it.

"You sure do get around, don't you, Crys?" I asked. Right, so, the Lincoln repeater takes….44 magnum rounds. Right, got it. I dug through my tool box, remembering the ammo Charles had stashed away. Luckily I found a box of rounds, and I placed in the locker tenderly. I further inspected the locker to find a radiation suit, and after a little glance at it I noticed it was recently used. What the hell was she doing with that? Suddenly I heard footsteps coming up the hall, and I began to panic. I quickly grabbed my toolbox, and slipped out of the chamber, incidentally just before Autumn rounded the corner towards us. I turned the corner sharply, throwing my back on the wall behind me. A familiar voice startled me, making me jump.

"Nice to see you again." The commander from the elevator chimed up.

I stared at him wide eyed for a few seconds, as if I was a child who had been caught stealing cookies.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah… um, I was actually on my way out…" I mumbled.

"Oh? I was looking for you." He said.

My eye's widened, and I blinked a few times as the information processed.

"Were you?" I was beginning to get suspicious, and I readied myself for a fight.

"Did you hear about Tal Almodovar? The cyborg that killed all those troops four years ago?" He asked. I only nodded my head in response.

"Yeah, well, she's here. Apparently…" His voice softened, and he leaned in closer. "And I hear that she was looking for the G.E.C.K with her husband. He didn't make it out, but she's in the hostage chambers. They need the code to start the purifier." He explained.

I blinked a few more times at this random guy, who I didn't even know the name of, completely unaware of how to process this. She was married? Her husband died? Code for the purifier? G.E.C.K? They… they were going to rule the world…

"This isn't good…" I muttered.

"Tell me about it." The man huffed, crossing his arms. "They're not even trying to revive her husband. They're about to harvest his fucking organs."

"Look, what's your name?" I asked quickly.

"David… why?" He asked.

"Look, Dave, you need to get me to a terminal, and you need to get me there right fucking now." I explained, moving away from him.

"Why?"

"Because President Eden is trying to take over the world. And if he needs to kill Crystal, and everyone else in his path, he won't hesitate to do it." I explained harshly.

"Well what do you plan to do about it?" he asked in shock.

"I plan to blow him the fuck up."


	8. Chapter 7: Now It's Crystal Clear

**Woot woot! I'm done! **

**This took a lot more work than I had anticipated... but I think it paid off. *sigh* I'm really gonna miss writing for Allison. She was such a fun character... **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

David stood at the door on lookout as I hacked as quickly I could into the terminal, and onto incredibly classified information about the President. It was easier to do so since he was a fucking robot. I knew he was when I took the job. At first I thought it was incredibly clever, having a never aging leader. Then latter on I realized it wasn't him who was leading this whole fucking place. It was Colonel Autumn.

"Are you almost done?"

"Don't rush a genius at work." I muttered.

"You never really told me your name."

"It doesn't matter."

"It kinda does, considering I'm helping you blow up the President."

"Just shush. I'll explain later."

After a few minutes of silence, David began asking questions again. But this time the hard part was over, so I was more in the mood to answer them.

"What do you know about Project Purity?" He asked.

"I was the one the researched it. I was the one the found them out. And… I was the one that made the poor girl's life a living hell." I grumbled.

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"I brought the Enclave to her, and ended up killing her father. She's… she's never been the same since. And now her husband is dead, and God knows who else!"

Finally I found exactly what I was looking for, making me smile triumphantly. The codes to make President Eden self destruct.

"Now all I have to do is send this to Doctor Roberts in Rivet city, extend the communication matrix from Crystal by creating a link so they can connect from this far of a radius, and we're golden." I explained.

"English please?" David asked.

"Ugh… Crystal just needs to recited some complex codes in front of President Eden, and then he goes boom."

"But when is she going to be near him?"

"She's there right now. David, the second I press this button we need to book it out of here, and fast. Do you understand me?" I asked sharply.

David only nodded. I don't think he believed me… he'd better. I took a deep breath, and pressed the button down hard.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The shocks were felt almost immediately after pressing the button, but by then David and I were already booking it out of the base. We didn't care that people were staring, or mumbling, or even screaming… All we cared about was getting out of there in time. Once we did, we turned around to see the base from the outside. The ground was shaking a lot now, it I was finding it hard to stand up straight. David, without thinking, put an arm around me, and held me close to him. We watched as small explosion's were set off in the back of the base, and slowly made their way up, getting more and more powerful.

"I must be dreaming." David said in awe.

"I feel like I've been dreaming for four years." I said. David tightened his grip on me.

"Why did you believe me?" I finally asked.

"I didn't. I just trusted you weren't wrong."

We watched the rest of the show in silence, until we saw a figure emerge from the base. It wasn't an Enclave member, we could tell that much. Then, finally, as the sun caught light of the figure, we saw the flash of a metal arm carrying a dead body. It was Crystal, her arms clutching her dead husband, her eyes seeming to be dead themselves… Just as she began to walk towards us, the base exploded all together, shaking the ground violently. David and I struggled to stand up right, where as Crystal just stood there, completely unmoved. She turned her head to watch the explosion, and once it ended turned back to us.

"You're not here to kill me, are you?" She asked. Sarcasm was thick in her almost robotic voice. It was obvious neither of us would dare kill her now. I hadn't noticed before, since I've only seen her by camera, from a distance, and when she was passed out, but her eyes were so blue they almost seemed to shine. Small silver like rings circled around her pupils, only making them even more vibrant. The technology was truly amazing… David elbowed me in the side roughly, and I realized the two of us were gawking at her.

"Uh, er… no… we uh…" I muttered.

"We helped break you out." David said evenly.

Crystal seemed to be transfixed on me, not wanting to look away.

"What?" I asked finally.

"Kai?" She asked.

My eyes widened, and the world began to spin.

"What?" I asked again dumbly.

"How did you get here?" She asked.

"I'm not… no… you've… you've seen her?" I asked.

Crystal slitted her eyes, not understanding what I was saying.

"K-Kai…. She's my twin sister… where is she?" I asked.

"Galaxy News Radio. She works as a medic." Crystal explained flatly.

I hadn't noticed that I was completely leaning on David now until he shifted his weight to support mine.

"I suppose I should thank you for helping me to break out. But I must be going on my way now." She said, almost with no emotion at all.

"Wait." I stumbled just as she was about to turn away. She stopped, and just stared at me.

"I… I want to help you. You know… burry him." I said. I was trying so hard not to look at the dead body in her hands, but at that moment my eyes wondered down to see the lifeless body of a blonde, well built man. I didn't know how in the hell she was carrying him…

"I didn't think you'd care." She said simply.

"I do. If you don't mind… Can I help you?"

There was a long pause as Crystal just looked at me, as if she were waiting for something. Then, finally, she nodded her head.

"You may."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The air was silent and tense as we all stared at the shifted dirt, covering Crystal's deceased husband. For somebody who had just lost her spouse, Crystal was surprisingly calm. Or maybe she was just numb. It was hard to tell. I was still leaning on David, his arm still holding me tightly to him. And rightly so. I didn't know if I could stand on my own without him there, and if he wasn't I'm sure Crystal wouldn't offer the same sort of comfort. After a few more minutes of heavy silence, I finally opened my big mouth.

"Crystal… I'm sorry." I said.

"For what?" She asked, genuinely surprised.

"I… I brought the Enclave to you. I found out about the project. I… I got your dad and husband killed…" I muttered. David rubbed my arm comfortingly as I said this. I really did expect tears, but luckily, none appeared. Before I could wonder why, Crystal had fixed her bright robotic eyes onto mine.

"It's not your fault, Allison. There was no way you could've known." She explained.

"How do you…"

"And I'm very sorry about your friend. I never meant to harm him." She said, and looked at the ground slightly. "I never meant to hurt anyone, in fact. I wish I could… take it all back."

How in the hell did she know my name? And further more, how did she know about Charles? As I looked at her I couldn't help but see the human part of her, shining through the metallic replacements of her former self. Maybe it was because she had just lost her husband that she was acting so human, but I began to feel a sort of… empathy towards her. I knew the lost of a loved one. I've never been in 'love' like normal people. But if I had to qualify Charles in the spectrum of loss, I would put it up there with losing a husband. Or father. This cyborg, this woman in front of me was stronger than I would ever hope to be. Even without the metal parts of her. Then I found myself separating from David slowly, and towards Crystal. I placed my hand gently on her human arm, trying to look into her eyes. She lifted her head slightly, looking straight at me.

"It's okay, Crystal. I don't blame you… Not for anything." I said, my voice clear and steady. Still surprising to me that I haven't burst out into tears just yet…

Crystal lifted her head higher, a very small smile appearing on her lips. She placed her metal hand onto mine, and I was immediately surprised by just how gentle she was with it… Then suddenly her hair turned from pitch black to a dark red. My eyes widened, and I let out a small gasp.

"Crystal… your hair." I exclaimed softly.

She seemed puzzled at first, then grabbed a lock of her hair towards her vision.

"Would you look at that." She breathed, a slightly wider smile breaking out of her state of sadness.

"What… what does it mean?" I asked, only realizing just how dumb it sounded once it was already spoken.

"Allison… It means I'm happy."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

David and I left Crystal soon after that. I looked back at her before she disappeared in the horizon. She turned her head away from us, and towards the fresh grave of her husband. She looked so heroic standing by herself. Before we left she pointed us in the direction of the Galaxy News Radio station. What was Kai doing with Three Dog, anyway? Did a radio station really need a doctor? It was a bit of a walk, but eventually we made it just when it was getting dark.

"Ugh. Twilight." I muttered. David chuckled.

"What, you don't like twilight?" He asked.

"It's fucking confusing. I hate the shadows. It's almost like it's a dream, and I can't tell what's real or not."

In the distance we saw lights shining from an old looking building. Finally.

"We made it…" I breathed. David stopped, and just stared at the lights. He didn't move forward.

"David… come on, what's wrong?" I asked. I could barely make him out now, the lights proving no help in my vision. He only smiled carelessly, at least I think, and breathed in deeply.

"It was good to see you again, Ally." He said.

"What… what do you mean?" I asked, shaking my head. "You're coming with me. Right?"

He turned his face to me, but I still wasn't sure if he was looking at me or not.

"You're here safe and sound, ready to reunite with your sister. Therefore, my work is done."

What the fuck was he talking about?

"What do you mean your work is done?"

He only chuckled at me, and lifted my hand in his.

"It was nice knowing you, Ally." He said, stroking my arm gently.

He turned around, and began to walk off.

"David! David, what are you doing?" I called after him, but he just kept moving forward. "Don't just leave!"

I heard a deep chuckle from him, but it didn't sound like him anymore…

"Silly girl. I never left." And with that, he just disappeared.

I stood there, mouth agape, completely dumbfounded at what the hell just happened.

That was Charles' voice.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Butterflies erupted in my stomach as I walked up to the front door of the GNR station. The Brotherhood of Steel had stationed here, as well, which explained why Kai was here. I hadn't seen her in years… would she even want to see me at all? And how would she react to me? I was dirty, sweaty, exhausted… would she just kick me out? Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. There to greet me was a truck load of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers. They looked at me at the same time, making me gulp deeply.

"I… I'm looking for Kai…" I stuttered, only now realizing just how scratchy my voice sounded. There was an awkward silence as all the soldiers just stared at me. I was just about to speak again when one of the soldiers finally pipped up.

"She's down that hall, to the left." He said.

I nodded my head at him, and sped down the hall to get away from the awkwardness. I stopped at the door, suddenly a wave of dizziness washing over me. What the fuck was I even supposed to say, anyways? Oh, hey sis, sorry for totally abandoning you, how could you ever forgive me, ya-da ya-da, can I live with you now? Sighing, I leaned against the wall, placing my head in my hand in grief. What was I going to do? I slowly poked my head in the room, my lips tightly pursed together. I saw her sitting at her desk, head resting on her hand loosely as she browsed her terminal. It amazed me by just how different she looked, and yet at the same time just the same. She hand't even noticed me yet… I inched my way into the room as quietly as I could, almost as if I moved as slowly as I could she wouldn't see me. After I started feeling too creepy, I finally decided to say something.

"…Hey, sis." I almost whispered.

Kai shifted her eyes lazily to me, then froze. Her eyes widened, her lips parting in shock.

"Look… I'm sorry for… for everything." I began. She stayed completely where she was, almost as if she was turned to stone. "I was wrong, and well, you were right. You were… really right. And… and you have every right to be fucking pissed at me."

She stilled just stared at me. Now I was getting worried.

"Kay, I give you one free punch. Just one. Go ahead, let it all out. I can take it." I said, preparing myself for pain. Honestly, I didn't think I could take a punch in the face right now, especially from Kai. But fuck, I'd do anything just so she'd say something. Or do something. Then Kai nearly leapt from her chair, making me jump. She rushed towards me, and I closed my eyes in preparation for pain. But, instead she wrapped her arms around me so tightly I thought she was going to crush me. I awkwardly lifted my arms onto her back, not quite knowing what to do.

"I'm sorry too, Ally." She muttered. I could tell she was crying now.

"Oh don't cry… don't… don't do that." I muttered, feeling the sting of tears as they formed in my eyes. I hugged her back just as tightly, letting tears fall as they would. It was no use to hold them back anymore. After all of the shit I had gone through in these past years, after everything… I just couldn't hold it back. And, for the first time in a long time, here, safe in my sisters arms, it finally felt like I was at home.

**Aaaaannnd... done. **

**Well, this was fun. I hope it was enjoyable. I'm gonna feel kinda empty without anything to write, now... Well, now to get started on the sequel!**

**Thanks so much for reading! It means a lot! :) **


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